International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) airlifts endangered Kemp's Ridley and loggerhead turtles from New England Aquarium care to new rehabilitation sites in Florida
WHAT: Media are invited to St. Petersburg, Florida Airport to document
the arrival of wild sea turtles by an Eastern Air Charter
aircraft and interview New England Aquarium veterinarians caring
for the stranded sea turtles, as well as International Fund for
Animal Welfare (IFAW) Stranding Specialists.
WHEN: Friday, March 23, 2000, 12:30 p.m. flight arrival St. Petersburg
Airport
WHERE: The airport is located on State Route 686,
Roosevelt Blvd, just west of I-275, 6 miles east of
Clearwater and 5 miles north of St. Petersburg.
CONTACT: Jennifer Ferguson-Mitchell, IFAW, tel: (508) 737-1584
Suzi Fried, New England Aquarium, tel: (617) 973-5213
On Friday, March 23, 6 Kemp's Ridley sea turtles and 2 loggerhead sea
turtle will fly to St. Petersburg, Florida. The $11,000 relocation expense of
these endangered turtles is being funding by the International Fund for Animal
Welfare (IFAW - www.ifaw.org). They will be distributed to Clearwater Marine
Aquarium in Clearwater and the Mote Marine Lab in Sarasota.
The turtles are being relocated from the New England Aquarium to make room
in its rehabilitation center for a regular influx of animals in need of care.
A baby harbor seal, rescued by the Cape Cod Stranding Network will be moved
there for urgent care once the turtles have been relocated. IFAW is a founding
member of the Cape Cod Stranding Network.
Each year, a few dozen sea turtles wash ashore on Cape Cod beaches. Sea
turtles normally migrate (or float with the current) and feed in Cape Cod Bay
during the warm summer months. When the water quickly turns cold in early
winter, it reduces the turtles' body temperatures below normal, and the
turtles wash ashore in a condition called cold-stunned. Stranding totals over
the past two winters are particularly alarming because of the fragile
population status of the Kemp's ridley sea turtle. Only 6000-7000 breeding
adult Kemp's ridley sea turtles are estimated alive today. Today, all sea
turtle populations are susceptible to coastal development, pollution,
collisions with boats, and entanglement in fishing gear. All seven species of
sea turtle are either endangered or threatened.
